Russian and Belarusian Owners List More Latvian Property

More Latvian properties owned by Russian and Belarusian citizens are being offered for sale or rent. The Interior Ministry links the trend to immigration restrictions introduced in 2022, when citizens of both countries lost access to temporary residence permits based on investment. There is still no evidence of a broad sell-off: the ministry considers the effect of non-resident property sales on the overall market insignificant, while Latvian home prices continue to rise. A further structural change arrives on Sept. 15, 2026, when Latvia’s new Immigration Law takes effect and property purchases cease to qualify new applicants for investment-based residence permits.

Russian and Belarusian Owners Increase Property Listings

The number of Latvian properties offered for sale or rent by Russian and Belarusian citizens is increasing. Inbox.lv, citing an Interior Ministry report, said the trend became more visible following amendments to the Immigration Law in 2022 that ended investment-based temporary residence permits for citizens of the two countries.

Latvia’s investment residence programme has operated since July 2010. Through the end of 2025, applications involved 21,525 people, including 8,570 investors and 12,955 family members. Authorities issued 20,131 initial temporary residence permits over that period.

As of Jan. 1, 2026, valid investment-related permits were held by 1,242 investors and 1,434 family members. Cumulative investment linked to the programme reached €1.67 billion, of which about 83%, or €1.39 billion, went into real estate.

The programme is now far less important to Latvia’s immigration system than it once was. Investment permits represented 53% of initial temporary residence permits issued to third-country nationals in 2014. By 2025, their share had fallen to 1.44%.

The Interior Ministry Sees Limited Market Impact

An increase in Russian- and Belarusian-owned listings is not the same as a mass liquidation of property.

A LETA account of the Interior Ministry report contains an important qualification: the ministry assesses the impact of property sales by non-residents on Latvia’s wider real-estate market as insignificant. Investment linked to the programme reached a low of €10.5 million in 2023, roughly 43 times below the 2014 level. By 2025, investment related to residence permits represented no more than 0.4% of total non-resident investment in the Latvian economy.

Public data do not disclose the number of Russian- and Belarusian-owned properties currently for sale or rent, their combined value or their share of total listings.

The evidence therefore supports describing a change in the behaviour of a particular group of owners, but not a nationwide property sell-off capable of reversing Latvian home prices.

What has changed most clearly is the role of some of those assets. Property purchased both as an investment and as a route to residence can retain its financial value after the immigration benefit disappears, but one reason for holding it is removed.

Investment Rebounded in 2025

Despite the programme’s long-term decline, investment increased last year.

Latvia received 192 applications in 2025 and associated investment reached €30.3 million, up 75% from the previous year. Property again accounted for most of the total, representing 73% of investment, with Riga and the surrounding area remaining the principal destinations.

The annual increase does not amount to a return to the programme’s former scale. The €30.3 million invested in 2025 represents less than 2% of the €1.67 billion accumulated since 2010.

Residence-linked foreign demand is therefore much less significant to Latvia’s overall housing market than it was during the first half of the 2010s, although the effect can still be more visible in individual locations and price categories.

The Property Residence Route Has Two Weeks Left

As of Sept. 2, 2026, Latvia’s existing Immigration Law still allows qualifying foreign nationals to obtain a temporary residence permit for up to five years through eligible property worth at least €250,000.

The route carries additional requirements. The purchase must be completed through non-cash payment, property-tax arrears are not permitted, and a first-time applicant must pay 5% of the property value into the state budget. The legislation also specifies cadastral-value and seller requirements. Russian and Belarusian citizens have been unable to use this investment ground since 2022. (likumi.lv)

That framework remains in force only through Sept. 14.

The Saeima reconsidered the new Immigration Law on Aug. 20 after President Edgars Rinkēvičs had returned the earlier version to parliament. The law was promulgated on Sept. 1 and officially takes effect on Sept. 15, 2026.

Latvia Ends New Residence Permits Through Property

Real-estate purchases are absent from the residence grounds contained in the new law.

A different investment mechanism is introduced instead. A foreign national may qualify for a temporary residence permit of up to five years after investing at least €150,000 for a minimum of five years through a state-established alternative investment fund manager and paying an additional €10,000 into the state budget. The new legislation expressly excludes Russian and Belarusian citizens from using this route.

From Sept. 15, the change therefore extends beyond restrictions on Russians and Belarusians. Buying property will no longer provide a standalone route to a new Latvian investment residence permit for any new applicant.

That separates the housing market from an immigration mechanism with which part of Latvian real estate had been linked for more than 16 years.

Existing investment permits do not automatically disappear. Transitional provisions allow some holders who originally obtained temporary residence through property or qualifying bank investments to seek renewed permits for up to five years if they continue to meet the relevant conditions, apply on time and make the required payment.

Russians and Belarusians Face a Ban on New Purchases

A separate restriction has already changed the market for Russian and Belarusian property owners.

Since July 3, 2025, Latvia’s Law on the Restriction of Transactions Threatening National Security has prohibited Russia, Belarus, their citizens, companies registered in the two countries and certain related legal entities from acquiring real estate or interests in Latvian property.

The measure restricts new acquisitions rather than the sale of property already owned. It contains limited exemptions, including certain inheritances, acquisitions arising from final court decisions and specified cases involving a person’s sole residential property and qualifying permanent residence status.

For many Russian and Belarusian owners, the market has therefore become largely one-way: an existing property can be sold, but purchasing a replacement Latvian asset is generally prohibited.

That may strengthen the incentive for some owners to leave the Latvian property market entirely after a sale, although no public dataset currently measures that effect.

Latvian Home Prices Continue to Rise

There is no sign in national price data that additional foreign-owned listings have pushed the housing market into decline.

Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau reported that dwelling prices in the first quarter of 2026 were 10.9% higher than a year earlier. Existing homes gained 12.2%, while new dwelling prices increased 4%.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, the overall house-price index rose 1.2%. Existing dwellings gained 1.9%, while new homes fell 2.1%.

The distinction is relevant because properties acquired by foreign investors several years earlier generally enter the existing-home segment when resold — the part of the market recording the strongest annual growth in the latest official data.

The national statistics do not identify sellers by citizenship, however, so they cannot isolate the pricing impact of Russian or Belarusian owners.

Riga Supply Remains Below Last Year

More recent data from the capital also show little evidence of an oversupplied apartment market.

The average price of standard apartments in Riga’s major housing estates increased to €963 per square metre in July. Prices rose 0.4% during the month and by more than 8% from the beginning of 2026.

ARCO REAL ESTATE counted almost 1,200 apartments for sale in the city’s largest housing estates. Listings increased from June but remained 19% below July 2025 levels. Across Riga as a whole, apartment supply was 13% lower than a year earlier.

Standard apartment prices had increased by about 6% to 12% since the start of the year across the largest districts. Imanta recorded the strongest rise at 12%, while Āgenskalns was up around 10%.

In Kauguri, part of Jūrmala, the average price of standard apartments stood at €883 per square metre in July, 7% above the beginning of the year.

These figures primarily describe the mainstream apartment sector and cannot directly measure the high-end properties historically favoured by some international investors. They nevertheless show that Riga’s broad housing market is not currently characterised by excessive supply.

Higher-Priced Property May Be More Exposed

The effect of immigration changes is unlikely to be evenly distributed across Latvia’s housing market.

The old residence route required a property investment of at least €250,000, tying the programme more closely to higher-priced real estate than to Riga’s mass-market standard apartments.

For a foreign buyer, a qualifying home could serve two purposes: an investment asset and a basis for residence. Once the immigration component disappears, the economics of ownership change.

The effect may be more pronounced for assets with narrower buyer pools, including large high-priced apartments, expensive houses and parts of the Jūrmala market. If international demand contracts, selling periods could lengthen.

Price declines are not automatic. Owners without an urgent need to release capital can rent properties, retain them or wait for a buyer rather than accept a significant discount. The Interior Ministry’s finding that both sale and rental listings are rising is consistent with owners pursuing several different strategies.

Latvia’s Housing Market Moves Beyond Investment Migration

The residence programme brought €1.67 billion in investment to Latvia from 2010 through 2025, with €1.39 billion going into property. Its importance, however, has fallen sharply from its peak.

The link between housing and investment migration is now being dismantled in several stages. Russian and Belarusian citizens lost access to investment permits in 2022. Latvia largely prohibited them from acquiring new real estate in July 2025. From Sept. 15, 2026, property purchases cease to be a standalone basis for new investment residence permits altogether.

Future housing-market performance will therefore depend more heavily on domestic purchasing power, mortgage conditions, interest rates, housing construction and available supply than on buyers primarily seeking an immigration benefit.

As International Investment experts report, the increase in Russian- and Belarusian-owned properties offered for sale or rent is a confirmed market trend, but the available statistics do not support describing it as a mass sell-off. The more consequential structural shift is the complete separation of new property purchases from investment residence permits after Sept. 15. The effect on mainstream housing may remain limited while national prices are rising and Riga apartment supply remains below last year’s level. Higher-priced and less liquid property is more exposed because its buyer pool is narrower and the immigration value of ownership historically mattered more. The actual impact will become clearer only when data emerge on the number, pricing and time on market of properties sold by non-resident owners.

FAQ: Russian and Belarusian Property in Latvia

Are Russians and Belarusians selling Latvian property en masse?

There is no evidence of a mass sell-off. Latvia’s Interior Ministry has identified an increase in properties offered for sale or rent by Russian and Belarusian owners but has not disclosed the exact number. It assesses the overall market effect as insignificant.

Why are more owners listing properties?

One factor is the change in immigration law. Since 2022, Russian and Belarusian citizens have been unable to obtain temporary residence through investment, removing the immigration benefit attached to property for some owners.

Can Russians and Belarusians buy property in Latvia?

Generally, no. Since July 3, 2025, Latvian law has prohibited new property acquisitions by Russian and Belarusian citizens, subject to a limited number of statutory exemptions.

Can foreigners obtain Latvian residence by buying property?

The existing property route remains available to eligible applicants through Sept. 14, 2026. The new Immigration Law takes effect on Sept. 15 and no longer includes property purchases as a basis for a new temporary residence permit.

What happens to existing investment permits?

They are not automatically cancelled when the new law enters into force. Transitional rules allow certain holders of existing property- or bank-linked permits to seek renewed temporary residence if they continue to meet the prescribed conditions.

How much money did the programme attract into real estate?

Investment linked to the residence programme totalled €1.67 billion from July 2010 through the end of 2025. Approximately €1.39 billion, or 83%, went into real estate.

Are Latvian home prices falling?

The latest official quarterly data show the opposite. Dwelling prices were 10.9% higher year on year in the first quarter of 2026, while existing homes gained 12.2%.

What is happening to Riga apartment prices?

The average price of standard apartments in Riga’s major housing estates reached €963 per square metre in July. Supply in those districts remained 19% below its level a year earlier.